Plasma treatment of polymethyl methacrylate to improve surface hydrophilicity and antifouling performance

Abstract

Surface modification of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) by O2/CF4 plasma is investigated to improve hydrophilicity and antifouling performance of PMMA. The PMMA surface before and after treatment is characterized by atomic force microscopy, contact angle measurement, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Antifouling properties are evaluated by protein adsorption and bacterial adhesion experiments using Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. Higher O2 content in the mixture gas promotes hydrophilicity of the plasma‐treated PMMA, while a hydrophobic surface forms at higher CF4 content. Modifying PMMA improves antifouling performance regardless of the O2/CF4 volume ratio, and this improvement increases with rising CF4 content in O2/CF4 plasma working gas. Functional groups CO and CF are detected in O2/CF4 plasma‐treated PMMA surface and the ratio of CO to CF can be controlled by the O2/CF4 volume ratio in the plasma working gas.

Chemical characterization of plasma-activated polymeric surfaces via XPS analyses: A review

“…Normally, strong interactions occur between a hydrophilic surface and the water drop thus giving a contact angle lower than 90 • . In contrast, limited interactions with the water drop befall if the surface is hydrophobic which leads to a contact angle higher than 90 • [31,32]. Despite being very simple and cost-effective, the WCA technique does not provide any information on the specific surface chemical elements and functionalities responsible for the enhanced hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity.…”

Breaking the clean room barrier: exploring low-cost alternatives for microfluidic devices

“…Various surface functionalization techniques have been developed to enhance the properties of polymers used in microfluidics devices, such as PDMS and PMMA ( Shakeri et al, 2021 ). Plasma treatment is among these techniques, which has been shown to improve the wettability and adhesion to other materials ( Sui et al, 2021 ; Gizer et al, 2023 ). In addition, techniques like chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and graft polymer coating can improve the surface’s chemical and mechanical stability ( Dabaghi et al, 2019 ; Fan et al, 2019 ).…”

Influence of different amino functional groups on structural, optical, and morphological properties of PMMA and their nanocomposites

“…[ 18 ] Recently, PMMA was surface modified by O 2 /CF 4 plasma to investigate the changes of its hydrophilicity and antifouling performance. [ 19 ] Functionalization of the traditional material with novel compounds can expand its use to an ever‐wider range of pollutants, targeting specific contaminated water sources, [ 20 ] extremely stable in many harsh conditions (e.g., high temperatures and boiling water), [ 21 ] fluorescence intensity, etc. [ 22 ] Amino groups and nitro groups are electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing groups suitable for functionalization of the polymer.…”